Afterglow
by ivan n'scent
Summary: Flowers are definitely not her life. Whoever said she wants to be a florist? Her attitude qualifies as one of those protesters. Her conclusion? Her life is misplaced. Miku knows that she ought to do something else. So when two guys told her that she started the rebellion, she was so fucked up. (independent sequel of If It Happened)
1. Chapter 1

**Afterglow**

The world is governed by trivial matters. _Mad, insane, disoriented_ – these are the best descriptions I can come up to picture how this place they once called _'home'_ is doing right now. Perhaps the world has gone mad for real, but the planet itself has no consciousness, right? By what law of science can such charge be proven true? I know none.

Then I shall correct myself for saying such false accusations.

Here it goes: _humans are extremely foolish creatures._

Fifty years ago, birds ruled the air and aquatic beings inhabited the sea. Man resided on lands, given the fact that they can neither fly and stay put in the atmosphere, nor breathe underwater and build their houses on the reefs. These people who believed that they are superior amongst all biotic entities, pursued a different level of knowledge that separated them from the beasts of the wild. _Science,_ it is called. They explored such field in greater depth than those dead people printed on books, and after that the world is never the same.

The undying adage goes like _change is inevitable._ Be it in good manner or otherwise, it is not controllable. It has become an involuntary volition for the human race ever since the dawn of time. Majority of the population of _Cloture_ believed that human beings evolved from the genus _Homo_ of phylum C _hordata._ I hate discussing technical terms but I call these beings ' _monkeys',_ because they strongly resemble them. And since _Cloturians_ have this Darwinistic belief implanted in their shiny brains, I shall call them _monkeys._ Assuming the arguments of this widely accepted theory in the tainted lands of Cloture, change has begun ever since humans evolved. Thus, change should continue.

Believe it or not, these monkeys went overboard. They started to change the nation fifty years ago, wiping out _peace and order_ and replacing them with _disruption and war._ Their _"science"_ brought them to heights no other human race, color or ethnicity has ever reached, and by the time the whole country was changed, Cloture was a state recognized for its superior weaponry.

The monkeys assuming the titles of leaders altered the system. After strengthening the military forces and seizing the rebellion within the territories, the leaders revised the system which run the country for century long. When the constitution was revised, these monkeys emerged to the throne and had all the people wrapped around their fingers.

 _"Long live Cloture! Long live the General!"_

"Die," I snapped, grabbing the remote from the counter to turn off the TV. When the screen turned black, I hissed.

TV programs were so tedious and nonsensical that I grew tired watching any of it. All shows being aired were monitored by the government, filtering all of its contents. Actually all kinds of shows were permitted, so long as none of these programs could provoke resistance from the lower order. Yes, _lower order_ oralso known as the blue-collar workers and the rest of the starving people. Well, that was so _typical._ The oppressed were always the first ones to notice how unjust, corrupted and parasitic the system had always been. In a game of chess, they would always make the first move. In my case, the less important pieces, were _pawns_ – that was if I put myself in a typical monkey's thinking.

They always come in greater number, but they were powerless. _En passant_ , forward or diagonal - these were the only moves they could do. They were the only ones to complain. Less-valued but significant in some sense. They were the ones often sacrificed so the other pieces could advance.

"Isn't it too early to be in such sour mood, Miku?" the owner of the TV said, walking across the shop. Her fading blond hair fell a few inches above her waist. Cloturians with normal hair colors – let me mention a few: black, blond, brown, red and white – were receiving a fairly good treatment from the people. Those people who were magically born with a different color from the mentioned colors were - of course - considered vile or something. That's experience talking, mind to tell you.

"I don't wish prosperity or good health for the nation and the ruler itself. I don't care about politics," I followed the woman as she entered her secret nursery over the counter, muttering something about the _long-live_ whatsoever countrymen were always screaming. "Hey, Diva. Can I borrow that book for a while?"

"Sure, why not? Just don't end up brooding about the contents," the blond laughed as she pulled a book out of her shelf. "You always end up twisting your face when you're reading anything."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a common reaction for people who are reading introspectively. My face states that I am absorbing the details."

Cyber Diva shoved the book to me and pushed me out of her nursery. The grin on her face is asking me to quit bugging her already. Shrugging, I walk out.

Welcome to my life.

I was not trying to start a rebellion against the current government with my wonderful introduction. Words couldn't change anything in the existing corrupted system anyway, it wouldn't do anything if they came from a commoner like me. Words bore power when the speaker was powerful in some sense. What I said was based on how I see the society as it was. No power. No sense.

This is reality, the life I am forced to live. The kind of living the government make us swallow.

This is Cloture.

They call me Miku and I am eighteen. I didn't have any memories of my past. No surname, no parents, no siblings, no boyfriend and no teachers. For some vague reasons, all records about my identity were burned together with the orphanage where I (allegedly) came from. Friends were all I have here and now, in the persona of my employer, Cyber Diva, and workmate, Xin Hua.

Cyber Diva was the only daughter of a certain affluent family from the _middle order._ Three or four years older than me and Xin, she had obtained a degree from the best university here in Cloture, the University of Latria. Such university specialized in sciences and engineering, producing citizens who would continue to advance the kind of living through innovation and technology. In spite of this "highly scientific" background of Diva's alma mater, I couldn't understand why she chose to put up her own business (aka flower shop) instead of joining companies or participating in research competitions sponsored by the private sector.

Xin Hua, on the other hand, was that girl dozing off on the couch. Her long dark purple hair caught up in pigtails reminded me so much of my own hair style, albeit my hair color is a lot nicer than hers. Why? Love yourself, okay? I had enough of this hair scheme discrimination and I never wished to hear more. Teal was better than lilac shade, in my opinion.

Why I slightly cringed at the sight of her sleeping form, it must be obvious. There was no trace of modesty with how her legs and arms dangled from the armrests of the couch. Poor settee suffering from Xin's heavy body. It didn't help that she looked so stupid while her mouth was ajar, snoring and drooling at the same time.

Xin Hua and I met shortly after I woke up in Diva's care. According to Diva, I was just released from the orphanage when a terror attack was befallen on the town where I came from. Diva was currently searching for different kinds of flowers she could plant herself when she heard the explosion half a mile from where she was. Of course, the common reaction of people was to runaway. So, Diva did the opposite and rushed to the scene. But before she could get to the orphanage, she saw me lying unconscious and wounded 200 meters from the burning children's home.

Xin Hua was Cyber Diva's helper in the shop even before I worked for the blond. She was a year older than me - that makes her nineteen - but her appearance would betray her age, anyway. This girl was too lively and bubbly and everything. She was acting a tad childish sometimes, but maybe that was what I liked about her. A girl who was thoughtful enough to take care of an amnesiac orphan like me was a good friend of mine. Both she and Diva were patient and kind towards me, albeit my attitude (at most of the times) was irrationally vexatious.

The wide array of flowers in this shop had done nothing to soften my hardhead. The bright colors were too vibrant as the faint sunlight shone upon their petals. It wasn't my desire to soften it as well, because I couldn't imagine myself submitting to all these unfounded rules and unnecessary discrimination among people. The rich became richer, and the poor got worse. Technology upgraded everything in a quick pace and machines replaced manual labor. People of lower order accepted the job of maintaining these devices (that's the highest job they can get) or start a small business or whatnot. The government continued to apprehend all parties that would oppose them until there is one, absolute voice left to rule the land of Cloture.

When I woke up, I haven't realized these things all at once. Maybe because Xin and Diva were staring down at me curiously with those stupid wide grins. I began to live my life when they told me that Diva found me unconscious on the ground that day of terror attack. They asked questions I couldn't answer like queries about my identity, and so they concluded that I lost my memories. True enough, I had no recollection of what happened that day. Soon, Diva handed me back the bag I was carrying that day and we saw an identification tag (like of those in military) with the name _Miku_ written.

I remembered Diva holding my hand that time, telling me not to force myself to recall who I am. I stared back at her and asked if she truly found me near the explosion and she nodded. I could only nod back, quite unsure of her answer because I never heard of the town of _Celeste_ before, so...

I lived the life Diva offered to me. In mornings and afternoons, we had to tend to the garden and water the flowering plants; make sure that the green mesh shielding the huge nursery was not holed by any insects or animals. It was fun to do all these simple things, eat thrice a day, get a decent pay and smile to whoever buys a flower, had this life not been spent in this country, which lost the _authentic_ civic peace.

Cloturians looked down on their own countrymen with different hair color and social status. They blatantly expressed discrimination and inequity so the society would continue to survive. This was a cycle, they claimed, and like how the water turned to vapor and came back to land, nothing would break it.

That was, somehow, true. But no truth was too absolute to not be deconstructed and reversed. Fools relented with this kind of thinking instantly, but those who could see the hope that this ideology could be broken, were fighting out there. And I, albeit in silence, have to continue the battle.

 _Knowledge_ was the only thing that separates Higher Order from the Middle Order. _Wealth_ isolated Lower Order from both of the more privileged orders. However, this wasn't the case for Cyber Diva. She was educated and had a varied knowledge about science as though she was from the higher order. I often see her laughing when science forums were televized, pinpointing the faults and good points of whatsoever was being aired. She would then explain things to me and Xin, and soon I noticed myself getting hooked with science. _Knowledge_ was thought to be exclusive for people of higher order, but here is Diva, more knowledgeable than the celebrity goons who called themselves researchers. Hence the book I borrowed earlier was here with me, pages being flipped as I read through it. There was no written and unwritten rule that prohibited lower orders to gain knowledge.

The book I was reading, _Biotechnology,_ was a mixture of biology and engineering and technology for me. Diva had taken interest in the study of this field, because this was the stepping stone which brought Cloture where it was right now. A bunch of genetically modified animals were existing soundly in the country, most of them were mechanical avatars walking around the capital city as though they were the common stray animals. These mechanical animals are said to be operated by surveillance system. Hence, the criminality was under control of the authorities.

Diva told us before that Cloture had long pioneered in biotech. Cyborgs and stuff like that were already mundane but was getting better day by day. Fifty-and-six years ago, this technological advances began clandestinely in fear of rejection from public. Ethics was the primary argument of the opposition. However, look around today. Everything had changed after five decades.

Technology was at its height in Cloture. It was quite ironic, though, because despite this supposedly _good_ improvement, the life expectancy of Cloturians was declining. I could only wonder why. We, people from the lower order, were not even prohibited to understand the technologies the researchers were developing.

"Ever the dreamer, Miku?" Diva snapped a finger in front of my face, stirring my mind that has been stuck with all these thoughts about the country. Dreamer? Maybe I am.

"You're out of that secret laboratory real quick," I acknowledged her. Diva just rolled her eyes and walked to the couch, kicking the said furniture to wake the girl lying there. Xin fell on the ground with a loud thud.

"A nursery is not a laboratory, Miku. Anyway, you seem upset today. What's wrong?" Diva pushed Xin's legs out of her way before claiming the seat. "I thought books can pacify you and your... _hatred_ towards the nation."

Xin quickly climbed back to the couch, this time sitting with her eyes half-opened. Her hair looks like a bundle of purple pasta. "Hey, guys. Morning," she mumbled and slept again.

"Oh? I am reading. I'm not upset," I told Diva nonchalantly. Really, I wasn't.

Diva chuckled, "Yeah, sure. And you read the book upside down."

Oh! Yeah, I was holding the book upside down. No wonder why I couldn't understand anything for the past few minutes that I was staring at it. I thought this was some Russian book or whatsoever. Sighing, I closed the book and placed it above the counter.

For the first time today, I acknowledged: there was something wrong with me.

Diva flashed a motherly smile and gestured me to come near her. We were always like this, confiding in her as though she was our big sister. When this blonde told us that she was no longer living under her parent's house, she had all the freedom to herself. So if she wanted to treat us like we were her family, she would do so. This was her confrontation when Xin asked why was she kind to us, lower orders.

I pushed Xin on the other end so I could occupy the space between her and Diva. This talk was kind of weird as well, because I didn't know where to start. Got no clue what to say either. There was this _magical_ feeling that randomly materialized in my chest, leading to the birth of this little voice inside my head. The next thing I knew, there was something wrong with me, with how things work now. But I couldn't identify what was wrong, so I didn't exactly understand my own feelings.

"You got something to say, Miku?"

"When you talk like that I want to puke. Don't act so motherly," I looked at her and stuck my tongue out. This was uncomfortable sometimes, mainly because she was an educated middle order while I wasn't anything at all.

"Oh sure. Come on, say it. I swear, if you'll be ranting about how outrageous and dire our society is, I cannot help you." She leaned against the couch and stared at the distance, paying no mind to her flowers surrounding us. For the first time, the colors surrounding us never mattered to the florist.

I want to bring up that talk actually, but she already gave a warning so...

What else could I say? I didn't exactly know what I want to talk about. I didn't even know why I automatically followed her when she asked me to sit with her. Being with Diva and Xin was home, no wonder. Maybe I was just looking for a little comfort.

"I don't know, Diva. Maybe I just feel a little out of place," I sighed, leaning towards the sleeping hog beside me. This flower shop had witnessed a lot of fun memories. I _am_ glad to be here but this place seemed not to be my place. "I don't like flowers as much as you do."

"Oh, dear. Believe me, I don't like it either. I just love experimenting on them. Cross-pollination and stuff," Diva sighed. Perhaps, she told the truth. She had a great deal of knowledge about sciences, after all. Besides, she graduated from University of Latria. "Science makes things a lot less boring. However, this has nothing to do with whatever's weighing you down."

I laughed awkwardly. This was not like Diva at all. I mean she could last a day hiding in her private nursery behind that weird door. Asking about what's troubling me was uncharacteristically fishy.

"Aren't you treating my stuff too seriously? I mean we all have our days. It's just a passing phase." Shrugging, I propped up an elbow on Xin's waist, earning a laughter from the girl.

Diva patted my head as though I was a dog. "Aren't you spacing out a lot today? You won't read the book upside down, water the flowers with coffee and glare at the newsflash like how you did a few hours ago. I should be really worried."

 _Oh..._ that's quite reasonable. Yeah, exactly. Why am I spacing out a lot today? But the last one she mentioned was intended. I don't like the governance here. With all of my heart.

I yanked my arm away from Xin as she hopped out of the couch, eyes wide like a voracious bear. Her hair was mussed in all directions, pigtails uneven. She looked from left to right, ceiling to floor, then rushed to the shop's door and kicked it open.

"What are you two doing!?" she yelled, eyes blood-shot. We only blinked at her. "There's an earthquake! Can't you feel it? The ground is shaking, idiots! It's shaking!"

"You're delirious," Diva shook her head and stood, walking towards Xin. "Or maybe...your brain lose a screw because you've been sleeping all day! Now, fix yourself! You won't show up to costumers like that, Xin Hua. Shoo!"

 _Costumers,_ oh. I forgot. We were florists. The mere visualization of how I was spending my youthful days with flowers and pollens and allergies (Xin's allergies) made me wonder whether this kind of life was what I wished to have back when I have my memories. We got to eat thrice a day. Living in a house, safe and sound, with sane girls looked ideal, too.

 _But there's something wrong._

 _Is it the society? Does it deal with how the society works right now? If it does, that should explain why I am annoyed with all these rules and regulations imposed._

 _But it seems that the real reason is deeper than that. So deep, I can't reach. So deep, I can't understand._

I don't understand what's wrong.

"Diva," I called, startling her from her own trance. She was always staring afar, too. "Can I take a break today? I want to wander around the mall if it's okay?" Diva creased her eyes, introspectively.

"You must be that troubled to ask for an alone-time," she mumbled. Well, not at all. I just couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong. My life, I supposed. I stayed silent and waited for her reply. "All right, go ahead. Be back before eight in the evening. Stay away from trouble, Miku."

I quickly vanished from her field of vision, scampering along the halls to change in my room. Trouble should stay away from me, not the other way around.

• • •

"Miku! Buy me donuts, okay?" Xin Hua yelled from the entrance of the flower shop, waving the sprinkling pot. "Those with sprinkles above the chocolate whatsoever! I'll pay you once you're back!"

"Not happening! You promised the same thing last time, Xin! Not falling for that plan again. Pay your debt first," I rolled my eyes and ran away from the flower shop, ignoring the loud whines of that childish girl.

Seriously, I am glad that our neighbors aren't kicking us out because of her. Some stall owners were easily pissed off by Xin's unthought pranks, victimizing both sellers and consumers. But well, maybe it was because of her cutesy looks that people couldn't stay mad at her for a long time. With that extremely revealing skirt and flashy tops? I couldn't see why not.

I skipped away from the downtown quick as a cat, to catch up the tram coming from the next street. Ardio Town Center was ten minutes away from here in Mesh District, but the tram would only pass once every half an hour. The tram would go straight to the inner (also busier) part of the capital city and turn to travel back to the outer districts to pick up passengers.

"Weird," I muttered as I waited on the stop. One thing I hated most about this "technologically advance" society was the disadvantages it gave _me._ This tram, for example, was no longer operated by the classic _maglev_ (magnetic levitation) like in early 21st century. This tram had anti-gravity engines installed at its base, perpendicular to the ground. How on earth gravity was manipulated under this public vehicle, I have no clue. It cancels gravity to make the whole thing weightless. Thus, it floats for about eight feet above the ground and flies down to pick up passengers. It doesn't land, it remains floating for half a meter above the ground so I have to hoist myself inside very quick, which is no _fun._

And here comes the tram, by the way. The door slid apart and some passengers hopped down. For some reason, Cloturians are used to this routine. For some reason, I am extremely vexed with this climbing up and hopping down thing. I love to exercise myself as much as possible, the need to be fit is still necessary, but it's kind of hassle if you use this manner of transportation everyday. Or it's just me? Diva, Xin and I don't go out together for most of the times, so I guess that's why.

I gripped on the handrail and tried to hoist myself up that, of course, resulted in failure. Standing aside, I let other passengers went on before me and by the time I was about to get in, the tram operator spoke through the speakers. Ten stupid seconds left.

"What!" With all my strength, I pulled myself up and yet everything ended as _attempts._ Goodness, if these monkeys were truly intellectual they should have not removed the platforms!

"Miss, take my hand," a young man poked his head out and offered his hand. I was a little hesitant for a moment, but when the tram operator announced the fifth second, I grabbed the stranger's hand. My lack of exercise resulted in such weak stamina. Hoisting myself from the ground to step on the tram has never been perceived as a challenge by yours truly.

The door puffed a thin smoke as it closed, the air-conditioning system finally felt by my skin. That was close. It was only a matter of seconds to shut me out of the tram and force me to reach Ardio Town Center by foot. Nevertheless, all is well now.

"You like helping cute girls, Fukase. Always and forever,"

"Oi, Yuu. You told me to pull her up. You literally asked me to."

I turned around and saw the redhead who helped me. He was a head taller than me, arms crossed on his chest as he talked animatedly to his companion. I guess his name was Fukase and the blond one was Yuu.

"I bet she's the reason why you asked me to give you company. You need some guidance on your first date?" Fukase's shoulders shook as he laughed, head wincing as he watched the blond to shrug.

"I'm not interested with such matter. I told you already, I have an important appointment in Ardio – " the blond was hushed by the redhead's finger on his lips. Yuu was surprised himself but remained wordless about the interruption. What's this? _Bro-love?_

That was when Fukase looked at me, mocking a bow to acknowledge me. As if I will be moved by his weird gesture, huh.

"Good day, miss. Are you Yuu's secret lover?" he politely asked with a smile.

To return the favor, I did my best to sound the same - minus the sarcasm, of course. "Good day to you, too. Your brain, shall I compare it to a machine, lacks lubrication. Has it become too rusty to understand that you just saw me a few minutes ago and there's no way on earth I'd know who are you?" He gaped at me. "So to answer your question, _no._ "

Shunned by my bluntness, the redhead cocked a brow and soon, glared at me. I wouldn't waste time talking to these guys, but I was truly thankful because Fukase helped. They were just talking nonsense and like what the blond said, I had no energy to waste a single second about this matter. Dating was for losers who needed others to make themselves complete. Another form of parasitism, I guess.

The silence thickened. The blond was laughing at his friend as he nudged an elbow to the quiet redhead, humor was twinkling in his sea-green eyes. Knowing what _might_ happen next, I spoke again. "Anyway, thanks for helping me back there. Have a good day." I gave them a tight smile before turning around, not missing the shrug the redhead made. I walked further inside the tram, trying to find a seat. Though Ardio was a few minutes away, it would be the best option for me – to sit down and ponder about my weird feelings.

The skyscrapers from the inner city came to view. After a few more minutes of riding this tram, I would be able to see those colossal infrastructures towering above me. There would be plenty of animal bions roaming around the outskirts of the city and in the downtown. Many high and middle orders would turn their heads to me, being my hair was so noticeable. Once I got inside the Town Center, I wouldn't care about all these things. I just wanted to spend time to think. By the time this tram stopped at its station, all the established difference between the social orders would be ignored. Or at least I could pretend that I was ignoring it.

The tram came to a halt to load passengers. People who were obviously well off boarded the tram, the scent of coffees and papers and some sort of heady perfume wafted in the air. I, who was not able to find a seat, was sandwiched between the new passengers. For the first time, I realized how it felt to drown amid a crowd.

I wanted to scream and push these people away if I wasn't in a disadvantageous position. There were too many high orders in here, I was just lucky that this tall, sheen high order wasn't brushing me away from him. I was literally pushed against his chest. The girl behind me was laughing and had her hands on my shoulders. Well, I was lucky. She wouldn't hit me now, would she? Was this guy her boyfriend? Ugh.

"Miss, are you okay?" she whispered, her voice smooth and soothing. She almost sounded like an angelic elder sister I could never have. "Your ears are red."

I glanced over my shoulder and saw that she was a bit taller than me. Her pink hair was caught in a messy ponytail, some strands fell loosely beside her face. Her deep blue eyes reminded me of the morning twilight, the sky where stars had yet to vanish before the sun shone. Her choice of apparel was screaming her social status, but wasn't she too friendly for a high order? And her hair was pink, too. She didn't look like a victim of discrimination.

She beamed at me and I remembered that she was asking something. Stuttering, I managed to say "I'm fine" while trying to push myself away from this guy. Nevertheless he continued to stumble towards me (and I, almost tripped back to the beautiful high order behind me). I wouldn't get out of this tangled mess quite soon. This time I decided to stare at the guy in front me. He was grunting something ever since he boarded, cursing softly at every push he would receive from the people behind him. He stepped forward again, his cuss turned up suddenly, making me look at the visage of this foulmouthed individual.

And _that_ was a mistake I shouldn't have done. Peering down at me with wide blue eyes, his blond fringe fell loose like drawn curtains. His pale lips were pursed together in a thin line, I couldn't tell if it was a frown or a suppressed smile. That very moment I forgot that my hands were balled into fists against his chest, that we continued to tumble forward and backwards along the ride. He was remarkably beautiful, his face somewhat nostalgic.

The tram suddenly turned left, the force pushed me to him. I could hear the lady behind me laugh again, her hands still on my shoulders. With nothing to hold on, I instinctively clutched his shirt–or lab gown. Why the heck was he wearing a lab gown in a tram?

That was when I noticed his identity card. _SELF Research Institute,_ it said. My fingers were quickly untangled from his coat, and I established a distance between us. Well, you could hardly call this _space_.

Diva had told me stories about this government research team which worked the most in strengthening the country's arsenal. SELF made every sci-fi fantasy real in Cloture. This guy was one of those highly intellectual monkeys who didn't invent a platform for this tram. He was one of those people who worked to make the fearsome image of this country. How foolish.

"Hey, Len. We're almost there," there was another guy standing behind him, and he was much taller than the blond. All I could see was his purple hair. "Luka, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, dear." I whipped my head around and saw the girl behind me smile. She was also working for SELF. Taken aback, I tried to face her.

"Are you working for SELF?" I focused on her amiable smile, hoping that she would say yes. And she did, through a nod. "How did...you get in? I..."

The tram halted, the doors slid apart with that familiar puffing of air.

"Luka, let's go."

It was the blond. He spoke coldly, his words sounded like an order. His voice was surprisingly scary for his face. I was not able to talk because the crowd began to push people again. The lady hopped down, the blond pushed me aside to follow the girl. I heard the tall purple-head scolding the blond because of his " _ungentlemanliness_ " before jumping out of the tram, too.

The people continued to push past by me, each of them hopping down to waltz wherever they ought to go. It was not the Ardio Town Center yet so I had no need to get out. But seeing all these grand architecture before me, I was certain that this was the SELF Research Center. This place...was so inviting. The flying cars, the animal cyborgs, the soldiers in white suit...there was no mistaking here. It was SELF. Why it was located near the capital, I got no idea. But science laboratories were supposed to be located somewhere hidden in public, right? Perhaps this was Cloture's way of showing off the power and dominance they obtained from their advances in technology.

"SELF," I mumbled to myself, the word rolled smoothly on my tongue. Right that moment, I was convinced that I wasn't destined to stay as a florist forever.

The doors closed before me. I watched the three researchers scurried towards another blond guy in white. Before I could see the researchers walk away, the tram started to move again, and the whole facility of SELF vanished from my field of vision after several seconds. The huge research facility standing under an ellipse canopy of fiber glass where one could stare at the blue sky directly, was blocked by the tall metallic walls protecting the inner downtown of Ardio City.

The tram traveled through a narrow tunnel outlined with orange neon lights. It was too dark to figure out the texture of the walls, so I kept an eye on the orange lights. It seemed like there was just one straight orange light as the tram continued to move. I could hear the howling wind from the outside, an indication that the wind was going in circles.

The inner walls of Ardio could be accessed only by passing through the seven pair of tunnels bordering the city. It was their state of the art defense, the heptagonal titanium walls built to protect the capital city against any form of intrusion. No wonder why the security was heightened around the heart of Ardio. The official residence of the Prime Minister could be found within, after all.

"Have you seen his name?" someone mumbled near me. It wasn't addressing me by name, I assume, because I knew no one who boarded the tram. "Hey, miss. Have you seen his name?"

I jumped a little when a hand landed on my shoulder. Jerking away from that hand, I turned around and pressed myself against the door, eyes focused on the unknown person who touched me. Why was I attracting willies a lot?

I came face to face with the blond boy and the redhead. What were their names again? I remained glued on the door and blinked at him, and he just batted his sea-green eyes innocently.

"Oh," he averted my stare. "I'm sorry if I startle you. But have you seen his name? The guy in lab coat, the blond."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. Come to think of it, this was the first time that I looked at his face properly. His short blond hair made him look younger. Maybe he wasn't older than sixteen or seventeen. He kept on looking around, obviously uncomfortable with how I looked at him. Was he looking for his brother? Long lost brother?

"The guy standing before you a while ago. I saw you staring at his ID card. Have you seen his name?" the blond boy was still pressing on the issue. When I shot him more puzzled look, the redhead beside him sighed and convinced him to just drop it.

"Yuu, stop scaring the girl. We'll meet the person who'll help you, right?" said the redhead. He called the blond Yuu. What a weird name.

"Fukase, I got a feeling that _he_ was that person. Have you seen how he stared at us?"

"You're delirious. I saw him staring at _her._ He wasn't staring at you. And get a grip, buddy. He's our senior colleague, he's too loyal to the General to speak up against him."

The two continued to argue, and I was easily forgotten. But they soon stopped talking when the redhead pulled his phone out of his pocket, pressing something on his handheld device and the holographic screen glowed in front of them. It wasn't a habit of mine to read people's messages but it made me wonder why those two were gaping at the message. I could see a few colors from the image they received, however the whole screen was inverted from my perspective. Yuu, the blond, looked at me as though I was a ghost.

"What?" I asked. The darkness of the tunnel was replaced by the luminosity of the bright sky. Skyscrapers towered over the tram, and people walked underneath us like ants crossing the highways. The tram was floating for about a hundred feet above the ground, slightly angled towards right as it levitated downwards. I was finally in my destination, the heart of Ardio City.

"Miku Hatsune?" Yuu called, his hand gripping my right arm. "That's you. We need to talk."

I glared at his hand on my arm and then at his face. "Hatsu...? No, I'm not. What are you–?" The tram released harmless fumes as it settled on the ground. It shook a little as the base touched the solid platform, and before I could escape the grasp of this weird blond kid, he yanked me out of the tram.

People rushed to us, making the exit easier. They pushed me forward like strong waves of a sea I had never been to. I tried to swat these people away as I squirmed in this guy's squirm, but Yuu's hand remained firm. He wouldn't let me go soon enough, or he wouldn't free my arm at all. I let him drag me, I let him ride along the tide. The redhead idiot chased us, his bright head was almost lost amid the pool of people, but he was able to catch up soon.

"Where are you taking me, boy?" I asked, walking at the same pace. "Hey, I'll tell the police that you're harassing me. Let go!"

"Like they'll believe you. I'm working in SELF. Not a big position, really. Just part time. But I guess that would be more than enough to make me more believable than you. No offense, that's how society works." Yuu motioned Fukase to quicken his strides. "You know, I'm looking for someone in that facility until I received a message from this random guy. He's meeting me today," the blond blabbed as we took the stairs down the station.

"Oh, okay! So what does it have to do with me," I rolled my eyes. "Look, I don't know you and I don't care about the drama of your life. Yes, the redhead helped me up earlier, but that didn't mean that I'm instantly indebted to you. Let me go and we're okay."

"Not happening," the blond beamed at me. Seriously, nothing's funny. Don't think his cuteness would work on me as well. Just then, Fukase fell into steps next to Yuu, panting like a dog. "The guy who will change this rotten system asked to bring you with us. Can you imagine how lucky I am to find you accidentally in the tram?"

I shrugged his hand off, "No, _Blondie_. Are you a part of some organization? I don't have any family to give any ransom you want!" No, he said something about changing the system. He's not a kidnapper. Was he a rebel then?

"Who said about the _ransom?_ " the blond laughed, his hand tightened around my arm. Still, it was a gentle grip. "No, he said you can help finding them. We have to leave; take tram twenty-and-seven. Now we need to go and ride it as soon as..."

"Tram twenty-seven!" I squirmed violently from his grip. "Are you taking me to the countryside? No way. You can't bring me–"

I was interrupted once again when we heard an explosion from the far west. Heads turning around, the three of us gawked upon seeing the Ardio Town Center swallowed by huge red tongues ablaze. The rebels attacked the five-storey building, said the voice whilst instructing the whole population in Ardio to calmly vacate the buildings. I watched as the huge fire lapped the whole building as another explosion started a new fire on the other side of the Town Center, and slowly, the place crumbled into pieces. It was such an ugly sight to see how the flaming red contrasted with the bright blue sky. Aerial fire engines flew near the burning edifice, hydraulic systems turned on to kill the fire.

Everyone was panicking whilst the three of us remained glued on our places. The alarm system of the whole capitol city was asking people to leave the premises, but these calm instructions were, of course, not really heard. Yuu and Fukase were equally shocked, both jaws dropped as we watched the Town Center to crash down. The east wing of the second storey collapsed, beginning the domino effect for the levels above it. People surged in our direction to board the tram and leave Ardio as soon as possible.

Yuu hauled me away from where were we, instructing Fukase to take his leave. When the redhead protested that he wouldn't leave us, the blond told him he had done enough. I didn't understand what was going on in here, but I wanted to leave as well. Diva told me that the terrorist burned Celeste until ashes were the only thing left. I could expect the same thing here in Ardio. If the rebels were able to make it through the heptagonal titanium walls, wiping out the city would be a cinch.

"Go back in Sector Z, Fukase. They needed us right now, I'm sure. Forget about me, I have to make it in Readele." Yuu pulled something from his pocket and shoved a pocket watch to the redhead's chest. "We will meet again, in sixteen years."

The hubbub around us made it difficult to understand the exchange between these boys. Fukase clearly disapproved of Yuu's decision, but the blond continued to push him back to the overpass. While all this drama was happening, Yuu never let my arm go. Right this moment, taking the tram twenty-seven was the safest option, being the farthest station from the explosion. The tram we rode earlier was now packed with people, and it didn't help that everyone's too alarmed. The mob was too tense, too violent, to calm down. However if Fukase really needed to go to back to Sector Z, that was a department of SELF located half a mile away from Mesh, he had to take the same tram.

"Thank you, Fukase. Till we meet again," Yuu nodded and pulled another item from his pocket. Though I never wished to get involved in any of this disaster, Yuu dragged me with him. I couldn't protest though, because he was bringing us to a safer alleyway where few people lingered. The sirens could still be heard, so was the uproar of panic-stricken crowd. The screeching iron bars that served as the pillars of the building echoed all over the place as if it was crying. Ardio Town Center was gone. It never bothered the blond, instead he just ran forward.

As we scampered down the alleys, I wondered why I wasn't sympathizing with the panic of the people. I was surprised to see the Ardio Town Center burning, but there was no feeling of fear running through my veins. Surprised I may be, but not afraid. I wonder why. Diva could say that my brain had prevented such emotions to materialize because I was traumatized by fire once...well, she _could_ only guess.

But right now, Diva was nowhere near me. I could not ask her opinion on what the heck was going on in Ardio. Why the terrorists had broken inside the capital city. I was alone with a blond kid I just met on the tram, who claimed that he was working in the SELF Sector Z. His actions could be dubbed abduction, kidnapping. But in reality, I was letting him to drag me along...which was ridiculous.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we stopped for a moment. Yuu looked around, his eyes scanning the area. Perhaps he was searching for something. We were approximately two-hundred meters away from the tram stop, but the collapsing Town Center and the uproar hadn't died down.

" _He_ said he'd meet us here," answered the blond, yanking me when he began to march again. "He'd give us a lift to tram twenty-seven. Then he'd rendezvous with us at Road 39, Readele. 8:00PM, he said."

The warm wind struck us, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut. The fire must had gotten bigger this time. I could hear the building collapsing, huge rocks clashing with the neighboring edifices. A fraction of Ardio would look like ruined dominoes if the authorities wouldn't kill the fire soon.

"Do you even know who this _he_ is _?_ You seem to trust him a lot." Yuu began running once more; I ran at the same pace, dodging a bunch of civilians who had congested several roads. Authorities had to control the crowd too, or else...

I heard the boy chuckle. "Yes, I know him well. He started the fire in the Town Center and was associated with the terrorist attacks. Unlike the Prime Minister, he had a straight thinking, Miku. No one had pictured Cloture better than he did."

Wow, how great. Now, I was a tool in this terrorism. "And why exactly am I needed here? I'm just a florist."

"No, you're not. He told me you're not a florist. Nor an orphan you believed you were." Yuu pulled me down with him as we heard a loud howling in the air. Terrorists were launching missile attacks now!? Impossible! They couldn't risk thousands of innocent lives. "You're a vital part of the revolution, Miku. You're the reason why all of this began."

Though his arms had covered my head, I managed to look up at the sky and see the trail of smoke drawn by the fighter planes. Whether such aircrafts belonged to the government or the otherwise, I couldn't tell.

And then, it dawned to me what he just said. The explosion had just taken place when Yuu picked me up to run again.

What the fudge! That was nonsense. "Hey, kid. Look," I dragged him down, stopping his momentum before we could reach the cab waiting at the end of this alley. "Whoever told you that, he must be nuts. I'm contented with my life," – which is a lie – "and I have no idea what on earth you are telling me."

"Of course, silly me, you won't remember. You've been asleep for so long," the blond grinned and pulled me with him, waving a hand on the cab parked at the corner. "I'll explain once we're out here. Now go, hurry." Yuu pushed me at the back seat of the cab. I looked at the driver through the mirror, his amber eyes clashed with mine.

Yuu sat next to him. "You must be _o'-two?_ " asked this stupid blond. The cab driver nodded and drove us out of that alley. His ebony black hair was gloomier than his scowl.

"I'll drop you at twenty-seven, and you know what to do. Whatever happens, keep an eye on her. Your safety is the most important mission here," how could he state those without sounding like a kidnapper?

Yuu nodded. "As long as you keep your promise, I won't put her in danger. Are you really sure she can stop all of this? She can't remember anything."

"She doesn't have to," retorted the raven haired. "We're just brewing a war. It has to start once her memory comes back."

"Hey! Will you believe me if I tell that I'm not who you're thinking I am? Look, I'm just a lower order. I can't lead a revolt–" the brakes screeched and the car drifted a little. I tumbled forward; back of Yuu's seat cushioned my impact. Soldiers in white blocked our way, their long firearms pointing at us. "H-hey, don't get us killed here."

"Fucking humanoids," mumbled the black haired, stepping on the clutch to change gears. "Put on your seatbelt, Yuu. Miku, cover your head and stay away from the window."

He muttered something more, something unintelligible to me as the car screeched and turned around, tackling down half of the soldiers blocking our way. I ducked and covered my head, preparing for a night of reckless driving from this black-haired bastard. The dull thuds of the bodies being hit by the cab shook us, and the vehicle continued to move in circles.

Welcome to my life.

* * *

 **This is the standalone sequel of my very first fanfiction, If It Happened. You don't have to read that story first just to understand this one. Like what I said, this is a standalone sequel. Its storyline is independent from If It Happened.** (And yes, I used to write under the pen name Shirai Hisaishi.)

 **This is supposed to be a full-length one-shot but I can't give my full time and attention for this story, so I decided to cut it in parts. It won't be a long multi-chap coz I'm too busy in the uni to write stories with solid plot.**

 **dedicated for my friend, fingra.**

 **P.S. Yuu and Xin are vocaloids, in case you don't know. Yuu is a part of the Zola Project. Xin is a chinese(?)/Taiwanese(?) vocaloid.**


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes I wonder how can people differentiate right from wrong – good from evil? I am certain that humans do not have an absolute sense of judgment to tell which is good and bad. However in a war-stricken place, such thing never exists, perhaps. Nothing separates good from bad anymore, whatever principles people are fighting for. Moreover, if you are living in such chaotic place, a place plagued with strife and disorder, you will not remember what is good or bad anymore.

* * *

 **One hour.** It has been an hour since the last time I heard the breaks screeching and felt the car crashing against the bodies of soldiers–that went flying right after colliding from our cab. It has been an hour since I yelled at this so-called _o'-two_ to stop driving. It has been an hour and yet it felt like a year. To watch those bodies being hit by this cab is just too much for me to take in for an hour.

This is considered _murder_ , I told _o'-two_ once, a few minutes after the road was soldier-free. He didn't look back or say anything, instead he kept on driving. Maybe this isn't his definition of murder. If this is not ruthless for him, I wonder what is considered brutal for this man.

On one hand, Yuu didn't look worried. It seemed like this whole incident was normal, but I couldn't blame him either. Cloture was a big mess for the past decades, bombing planes always roam above the capital. Soldiers mingled in the crowd as though they were normal citizens, oblivious of the weird glances they get from the civilians. When you see an armed individual walking around the streets, with his long laser rifle hanging from his shoulder, I bet you won't feel at ease. Well, in my case I would be wary, too. It was a sign that the government is heightening its defenses, right? That the threat wasn't coming from the neighboring states, but rather from the _inside_. The rebels, they were rising against the _tyrant_.

"Do you not regret taking down the soldiers? You probably have killed a number of them with that impact," I spoke, breaking the silence inside the cab.

I heard o'-two snort. "They won't die even if I burn them right in front your eyes. _Machines_ cannot die."

"Oi, I hope you're aware how creepy you sound there. They're people not machines." Crossing my arms against my chest, I tried to calm myself down. I never planned to spend a joy ride with a savage murderer like him.

This time he began with a laughter. "Don't attempt to lecture me about Cloture's security when you barely know everything, _missy_. Cloture's technology brought the country to its heights. The soldiers you saw were humanoids. They were avatars of the real soldiers set asleep in SELF. You should ask Yuu about that."

I was cringing at his words but for some vague reasons, I never felt afraid of him. O'-two didn't seem scary to me. Nevertheless, I stayed silent as I could because that was the best pretense I have thought of so far: _that I'm cool with all these things when I'm not._ It was still hard to believe how my fate changed in a blink of an eye by just riding the tram several hours ago. Had I known it would end like this, I shouldn't have watched the television that morning. I wouldn't let Xin sleep on the sofa and I wouldn't ask Diva questions. I wouldn't ignore Xin's favor to buy her donuts and I wouldn't overthink about all the things going on around me. I should have let the tram pass me by since I really couldn't lift myself up to ride it. If I had gone there by foot, perhaps I would learn that Ardio was under attack. Moreover, it that happened, I would postpone my alone time to go back to the shop and spend the rest of my life tending flowers.

My life wasn't as bad as I pictured it to be. In fact, despite the inequalities in the society, Lower Orders lived a pretty good life. That sort of life which could grant you the right amount of freedom, of course. In Cloture (like in any other places), no one was absolutely free. Surviving the discrimination was the lifelong battle you'd be fighting, so if you would get easily fed up...the rebels would welcome you to the club. Nevertheless, life was _okay_ so far. However, as I thought of this, I felt like puking. This wasn't really me. I was never the type of person who would settle with what was laid in front of you. There was a little voice somewhere in the back of my head telling that we, people, deserved better. We _used to_ have something better than what we were enjoying right now (if you could really call it _enjoy,_ per se). Maybe deep inside my soul, being passive didn't feel exactly right.

Looking down to check the time on my watch, I realized how much time had passed since we left the premises of the capital city. I glanced to the road behind us and studied the towering infrastructures which looked rather tiny from this distance. It was getting dark, the night sky was a huge smudge of blue and black. Underneath that void darkness, I watched the red tongues that set the Town Center ablaze. The helicopters were still flying over the fallen burning building, pouring down volumes of water in attempt to control the fire. I could see lights going all over the sky, the ones that signal people of danger, and it was telling me that the next days would be worse.

I pulled away from staring and settled myself on my seat. Yuu and _o'-two_ were still quiet, not a single word slipped past their lips. The last time the two of them talked was probably when _o'-two_ asked the blond to duck, and the next thing we know, a dozen of soldiers were knocked down and the door from the shotgun was badly damaged. As a result, Yuu kicked it and untangled it from the car. That began my doubt about the owner of this cab. If _o'-two_ was like Yuu, other words, _rebel,_ then it would be probable that this car was stolen. More likely.

"Is tram twenty-seven far from here? I've been sitting here for more than an hour, you know. My butt's hurting now," I stretched my limbs a little but the space was a little cramped, especially after the crashes this car had gone through.

"You sound subservient there," _o'-two_ said, his hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. He never turned to address me, he didn't even call my name.

"What do you mean?" I asked, head turned aside to watch the scenery from my seat. The tiny orbs of light from a distance looked like a personal galaxy. My personal galaxy. I liked city lights a lot. "I never said I enjoyed being dragged into this mess."

"You just asked how far are we from _twenty-seven._ It's like you finally submitted to your fate," he replied. Surprisingly, his voice remained cold and calm, and I thought just now how worst of a combination was that. Cold and calm. Like an AI voice command with no feelings.

"Fate, huh? Isn't that something we are supposed to make?" I couldn't think of a better retort. It made me wonder why Yuu wasn't butting in, anyway. That kiddo sure loved to talk.

"How _humanist._ Determinism taught us otherwise. Ever since we are born, our fates are decided. Naturally," the car went over a big rock, momentarily giving us a bumpy ride. That didn't make Yuu talk though.

"Don't go all philosophy on me. I'm a mere Lower Order, not educated at all." It was weird. I was keeping an eye on the back of his head, trying to imagine what sort of face he was making as we talked. Nevertheless it was impossible to think of an expression, given that his voice was icy like frost. It was like the wind in a desert once the sun vanished from the horizon.

"Then you're too wise for a _mere_ pawn of this country," he said, this time tugging the wheel to the right. We went through a narrowed, dusty road until we came out of an alleyway that was rather dark and desolated. "I'm glad you still have that brain of yours in tact right after what they did to you."

"What?" I didn't hear clearly what he said that time because as we came out of the alleyway, the blowing horns of the jammed cars chorused. People were evacuating. _O'-two_ didn't repeat anything to me then, he never spoke again. He stopped the car just where we got stranded due to the traffic, and he woke Yuu from his seat. Soon enough, the three of us left the car.

I stood beside Yuu, his tousled lemon hair was sticking everywhere. His eyelids were still half-opened, I could barely see his sea-green eyes under the dim illumination of the streets. Yuu seemed so tired, his shoulders were sagged and his sighs, depressing. He had this long face, too, that I have no idea why he was making so. Then I decided to tap him, raising a brow to ask how was he.

"I'm cool," he raised his left hand and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Just a bit disappointed 'cause I was waken from a nice dream."

 _Dream._ I stilled at his words as a pang of envy hit me hard. I couldn't dream at all, no matter how long I sleep. There were countless nights which I spent sleepless, I was just there lying and wondering what a dream was like. Maybe I dreamed once, I just woke up remembering nothing at all. Diva told me it was normal. Yeah, I guess I never made it a big deal after that.

"Hey. _Blondie_ ," I called, looking at _o'-two_ 's ebony hair as he walked ahead of us. From the narrow opening of this alley we were walking through, I could make the faint lights of the secondary road. "Tell me, how old are you?" I asked. I was supposed to ask about dreams, but then again I decided not make a fuss out of it. There might be an awful lot of people who couldn't dream either. Besides, Yuu looked so young. His age was my concern for it would be a sensible information than the dream thingy. Besides, it was as if youth was just beginning to bloom for him.

"Sixteen," he yawned.

"Sixteen," I chuckled. Wasn't he too young to join the resistance? Well, at least he knew where his life is going to. I mean, it wasn't like you'd get to meet people like him everyday. Moreover, he was already working for SELF at such young age. Shame on me.

I never asked further details nor did I intend to. Things weren't making sense by now. I was basically abducted by a blond teenager and I never fought him. As a result, we were travelling somewhere with a dude who was actually fighting the government. What made this whole thing a lot more senseless was the fact that I don't even know why we are moving away from the city.

I sighed. There was no turning back now, anyway. From the looks of this black-haired drag racer, escaping now wouldn't be possible. After all, he knocked out all those soldiers from earlier so I wouldn't stand a chance if ever I tried to run away. Dismissing all these thoughts, I quietly walked beside Yuu while _o'-two_ walked ahead of us. The loud noise from the road ahead of us resonated through the dark walls of these buildings. People were screaming, yelling to move already, when it seemed impossible. The traffic was bumper to bumper. Before I knew it, we were actually standing next to the road.

It was a weird town. Looking around, one might not believe that this was really a part of Cloture. It looked less civilized, but more free. This place looked as though it got a rather loose bond with the techno-heritage of the country. Or perhaps all places located away from capital were like this one?

Establishments were tall but no skyscrapers. Telephone cables dangled here and there, and multicolored lanterns hanged across the streets, lighting up the place. It seemed to be a huge mess to me, especially with this crowd and this traffic congestion; however, it was cozy. It was warm around here, it did make my heart flutter in some way. It was nice. Just messy. Well, a little. Messy enough to disturb me, okay. The sidewalks were filled with food stalls, most were offering Chinese noodles and grilled food. It made my stomach grumble, and thus I was reminded that I skipped two meals today because of this mess I was dragged into.

Yuu tugged on my arm and began asking me what were these food stalls selling. I tried to tell him the ones I know, for most part I just said that I had never gotten a taste of those yet. We engaged in a small talk about food and night markets right on, but it didn't last long when _o'-two_ grabbed us by our shoulders and pulled us up on a staircase. It was the sort of staircase that would make a rattling sound in every step, considering that it was rusty and made up of a thin kind of metal. Again, this town never looked like it belonged to Cloture or anything. This was probably the least maintained and least modern of all places near the capital—oh, it was not even a mile near the capital at all.

"Are we not getting any dinner, _o'-two?_ " Yuu asked as _o'-two_ went back from buying the tickets. Well, to add on the reasons why this town looked so less modern _,_ they still got tickets.

O'-two looked at Yuu as if he was an annoying cockroach that could magically speak. I saw how his brows furrowed and how his honey orbs narrowed as he thought of an answer. After several seconds of silence, he spoke, "What are you, Yuu? A kid?"

"Whoa, take it easy. He's only sixteen. He's a minor being dragged into this blasting-bombing-sort-of-show. We're all starving here," I said, realizing that this drag racer was basically short-tempered. "Don't you have any worms to feed in your tummy? What about Yuu and I go to buy something? It won't be long."

However, honestly speaking, I was just trying to make an excuse so I could get something to eat, too. Just how bad things could get?

"You're not trying to escape, are you?"

"Look, _o'-two_ or whoever you really are. You better thank me because I didn't play hard to get after you drag me into this. I have a simple life as a florist and yet I gave you the honor to ruin it by letting this cinnamon roll to kidnap me from the tram. Did I protest about that? Yes. But did I resist you or something? No. Shouldn't you be so grateful that I'm not burdening you or want me to be subservient? Here I go. You believe that I'm an important tool-whatsoever in this revolution, no? Okay!? I'll go with you. My point is: Yuu and I are gonna by our dinner and you won't object about that."

Talk about a senseless argument that dragged too long. O'-two and Yuu were both giving me weird glances, that kind of look which was asking where in the world did I get those things I just said. Nevertheless, it made o'-two sigh. He passed to me the tickets and instructed us to never leave the bench where we were seated right now. The guy volunteered to buy our dinner, but he never asked what we would like to get. How impolite.

A few minutes had passed as I remained sitting on the bench. Yuu was enjoying his brief moment of liberty by standing next to the railing, glancing down at the uproar of the small town while o'-two was away. From my seat, I watched the blond as a small smile adorned his face. He was so innocent. Well, calling him innocent was not really accurate. After all, he was a part of the resistance and he did save me from the attacks on the city. That smile was telling another story, nonetheless.

"Miku, do you have any siblings?" Yuu asked me, turning around to look my way. His short golden locks fluttered in the wind. I might be mistaken but I guess there was a brief glint of sadness in his eyes. It was gone before I could confirm it.

"I...I don't have any memories at all. Diva told me that I was found lying near an orphanage after a terrorist attack."

"I see. We're the same. I have no memories of my mum and dad, too. It's not because I was caught in some accident, though. It's more like...they were taken away from me right after I was born."

So that was it, huh? It was just strange how he could smile as we talked about it.

"Wasn't it supposed to be the other way 'round? You know, babies being taken away from parents by people?" I feigned a laughter. I just asked the most stupid question I could ever ask, not mentioning how insensitive that sounded.

Yuu chuckled, tucking a wisp of his blond hair behind an ear. "No. Believe it or not, they took them away. Uncle said the government didn't pay me any attention. I would die, I was just a newborn that time. Helpless. Weak. Dependent. Uncle told me that my parents never wanted that to happen. None of them wanted to leave me. They were taken by force."

"Were they rebels?" I walked towards Yuu and leaned on the railing. The cool breeze brushed against my face along the wafting scent of barbecues being grilled. The cars continued to roar with those horns, making the whole town below us polluted. Noise polluted. Ugh.

"I'm not certain whether they are or they aren't. All I know is that they stopped fighting the government when I was conceived." Yuu sighed, his eyes glistening. "I joined the rebels because they promised to help me find them. I traveled so far just to get where I am right now. O'-two said that they're located somewhere in Route 39 and that the government is keeping them on purpose."

"I see," I reached out a hand to pat his head. Xin told me to never touch people when they are sad or telling something that hits home. She said it might initiate them to break down. But seeing Yuu like this though I never knew him long enough, I would protest against Xin's idea. Physical contact could probably help people know that there were still people who would reach out to catch and help them up when they fall. That notion wasn't really bad. "And what will you say if you finally meet them?"

Yuu laughed this time. "I'll probably ask them to give me a brother and a sister. It's so lonely to be alone. In fact, I hate it. But seriously, I might ask them to do one favor for me: _stay_."

That's just...sad. The boy with me was just a kid whose childhood was robbed from him. He was longing for a family. He was longing for his family for sixteen years already.

"If they are never taken away from you, how do you envision your life now, Yuu?" I asked, pulling him to my side. My arm rested on his shoulder, and for a moment I didn't mind acting like an older sibling. Back in the flower shop, Diva would always do the same thing. She was like the big sister I never had, and Xin was the annoying youngest sibling that would always ruin a household. With Yuu by my side, I finally understood what it was like to be an older sibling.

"I probably have a younger brother and his name will be Lui. I'll beg mum and dad to name him Lui! And I probably have a younger sister, too—I'll name her Ring! Maybe we will spend time together in our backyard, planting and tending flowers. We will wait for the first rain of the summer because uncle said mom liked rainy season a lot. He said dad, too!" Yuu's voice began to tremble. I didn't know what to do, if I should withdraw my hand from his hair or if I should shush him. How could I stop him from talking when saying this was making happy? Tears trickled down from his eyes as he tried to laugh it off, but it made him sound more broken.

Yuu continued, "Maybe, we will go to amusement parks on holidays. Or I'll ask dad to teach me how to cook food. We can also devote our time developing this technological projects mum and dad started 'cause uncle told me that mum and dad are great scientists, especially dad. He was a beast— _oops..._ sorry. I always get this pumped when people ask that question. It's just...I never really know what it feels to live in a complete family."

"It's okay! Cry it out! I'm never good with this but...maybe longing for something you don't have is pretty normal. Diva told me that." Before I could continue with my attempt to sound like a wise guru, we heard the footfalls from the rattling staircase. O'-two emerged from the top stair with a takeout food in his hands. He was making this weird face in the darkness, more like out of disgust. Seriously, he looked like a mad husky. He handed us our meal that wiped the drama off Yuu's face.

"You'll go on without me. Yuu, I will reunite with you at Route 39, Readele. Until then, protect Miku Hatsu—"

"No, no, no. My name's _just_ Miku. No surname," I interrupted o'-two since they kept on referring to me as this _Hatsune_ when I wasn't that person in the first place. Surprisingly, o'-two just rolled his eyes at me.

"Fine," he said, brushing his dark fringe up. "Until then, protect Miku _No Surname_ for me. Be sure to bring her and yourself in the meeting point in one piece. Yuu, listen carefully. _Do not trust anyone besides me._ "

Did he just make fun of me—

"Not even Miku? I think she's kind and trustwor—" Yuu shut his mouth quickly.

O'-two raised a hand to silence the blond. This was the first time that someone actually thought I was a good person. It was just a shame that a pissy jerk like o'-two would disagree with this cinnamon roll.

"Yes, not even this hypocrite. Now, board the train and have a safe trip." O'-two pulled us towards the platform, then pushed us inside when the operator rang the warning bell. This train was weird. It seemed to be run by coal. Wasn't this type of steam engine outdated five decades ago? "By the way, _o'-two_ isn't my real name. I'll see you in Route 39. Yuu, take care of yourself, too. You're the man here so look after this alien, too."

While Yuu agreed excitedly with o'-two, I was about to reach out and hit him when the train started to move. I wasn't only insulted once, but twice. First, this dork called me _hypocrite_ , and now _alien._ I was pretty sure that o'-two saw me raise a hand so I could hit him. However, I wouldn't forget how his stoic face lit up with a small smile as the train moved away from him.

"Hey, drag racer! Why aren't you coming with us?" I yelled from the window. My long teal hair fluttered in the wind, obstructing the sight of his face. He was getting smaller as the train slowly began to run faster. The railway rattled underneath us noisily along the combustion of the engine.

"I have several things to take care of!" he yelled back. It was bit unclear, but I understood him. He raised a hand and waved a goodbye. I looked away from him as the train went out of the station, and the bright lights of the town underneath us came to vicinity. I heard Yuu gasp beside me, he stuck his head out of the window to glance at the vast orbs of light spreading below. We could see the distant city from here, the magnanimous walls of Ardio and the spherical roof of SELF. Everything seemed tiny and unimportant from the distance. Watching the landscape before us like this left a false notion in my head that Cloture was a peaceful place. Well, it used to be.

The cold wind grazed sharply against our faces. Yuu said something about this scene being nice, and I nodded in agreement. However, there was something in my head saying that this feeling was a tad familiar. I didn't know why, but it did feel awfully nostalgic.

For some reasons, I pictured myself waiting in someone else's living room with the TV turned on. Strangely, _Jingle Bells_ was being sung in that show. I didn't recognize the place, couldn't even recall if I've been into someone else's house besides Diva. But this place in my memory felt so much like home. I was just there, sitting on a couch...watching someone to doze off on the other couch. He opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep from those blue orbs. His face was blurry but his eyes remained clear. I knew those eyes. They reminded me so much of a clear summer sky.

"Let's eat our dinner, Miku," Yuu grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside the train, cutting through my musing. "Don't let the food wait."

 _Don't let the food wait,_ huh? I giggled as I sat opposite to Yuu. Tucking a hair behind my ear, I said, "You sounded like someone I know in the past—distant past."

Yuu pointed his disposable fork at me, his eyes wide. "Don't tell me you're seeing your ex-boyfriend in me?! No—look, I'm younger than you! You're like twenty and I'm sixteen! No!"

I shot him a glare. "Dude, no. I'm only eighteen. Shut it. I'm not talking about a specific person or anything. It's just...there's a hazy image in my head when you mention that don't-let-the-food-wait stuff." But surely, Yuu got the same shade of blond like the guy in my vision. Who was he?

We ate our dinner quietly. Shortly after that, Yuu spent the next hours staring at the scene outside, keeping an eye on the capital city as it grew tinier and tinier as we moved away. The air turned colder as the night got deeper that we decided to pull down the window panes. However as we did that, the peaceful image of Ardio we were admiring a few hours ago was wiped off. A huge explosion shocked everyone in the train. Since we were really far from the capital now, it wouldn't affect us. In fact, the explosion just sounded like a fire cracker lot from a distance. And yet, it was more than a fire cracker, of course. Yuu and I watched as the smoke formed like a blazing mushroom, and the city was soon illuminated with various sort of fire...everywhere.

I glanced down at the boy beside me. Everyone in the train was worried now, some were busy contacting their relatives located near the capital. I heard an old lady saying that the signal posts were down in the city now. I looked back to Yuu and watched how red and orange lights flickered in his eyes.

"Yuu? What do the rebels want from me?" I asked, taking a proper seat. This didn't feel right anymore. Many people would die if the revolution went on. "You said I'm not a mere florist. Tell me, do you know who really am I?"

"You," the blond snorted, and it was one of the cutest snorts I heard in my life. "You're worried about the people in Ardio, are you not? I don't think you have to, Miku. Nobody's real in this place. I bet I'm the only one alive in this train. Not even you."

Okay. Where on earth was the cinnamon roll I was talking to a few hours ago? I found it really cringe-worthy when people could dramatically change expressions from a cute smile to a deadly stoic face.

"Oi, that's creepy. Stop saying that." I wanted to slap him just to make him realize how scary his words sounded, but when his face changed expression, I hesitated. Yuu looked so...pained. The horrifying look he had a moment ago melted in to those glistening eyes.

Right that moment I forgot where we were. The time stood still and the commotion vanished as I stared at his face. I didn't pay so much attention when someone started to wail behind me as the news about massive deaths in the city was brought to them. The annoying sound of the rattling railroad as the train passed over it went unnoticed, too. I never really cared about how the people inside the rain were panic-stricken as another explosion illuminated the distant city of Ardio, its light cast shadows on the blond's face. It was just Yuu and I that very moment. There was something in those tears as it fell down from his eyes, and there was something in those words he kept mumbling as he sniffed. He was the only one alive inside the train, he repeated. I reached out a hand and held his hand. He was just a child, a helpless one at that.

"Miku, if I tell you a secret," he lifted his face to meet my eyes. It broke my heart to see him crying like this. Was it the war that scared him? Did he get a trauma after being caught in a shootout? What really happened to Yuu in the past?

"If I tell you a secret, will you laugh at me?" he continued, holding back my hand tightly. I winced while smiling, knowing that my voice would betray me once I spoke. He didn't say a word for another minute, he just filled the silence with hid sobbing and sniffing. When finally calmed down, he looked at me in the eyes.

I didn't know how to react but...I knew he wasn't lying when he said, "Miku, I came here to find my parents and save them from the government. I came from the future, eighteen years from now."

* * *

 **a/n.** _whoo, it's raining_ _ambiguity here and there. *casts hints everywhere. all right. thanks for those who read the previous chapter btw. this story is literally my child so yeah this one's a weird annoying child - hah._


	3. Chapter 3

It was funny how this sixteen-year old boy could drop bomb of a secret and blow your mind. Like, really blow your mind...as if a real bomb was dropped. He got something _explosive_ there, didn't he? I was sure as hell that I did not let a word slip through my lips in response for who knew how long, I was just there - just staring straight into his leaf green eyes, waiting for him to say something. He met my eyes too, and he gave me a look that showed me just how _bad_ he felt for himself.

The air inside the train was nippy, slowly clawing invisibly on our faces, but none of us showed that we were affected by the coldness of the evening. I forgot the thoughts running circles inside my head – the rise of the opposition, the burning Town Center, the growing number of casualties in the capital, the soldiers beaten down by _o'-two,_ and the people I left in the flower shop. They were all forgotten, swept away like some dirt on a windshield. The pretty light show from the distance–the city lights plus the blazing skyscrapers–was, nonetheless, set aside when I originally planned to stare at them all night until sun up. Well, it was because Yuu caught me off guard there.

Actually, a part of me wondered if he would still say he was from the future if I never asked a question right the moment we boarded the train, and if we never went down that topic. If I had recognized the wistful tone he had when he talked about his lost parents earlier, I could have known that this talk was a _no-go._

Nevertheless, it excited me to find someone who was much of a science enthusiast to throw off a proof for a theory nobody had ever proven true for a whole century. And it was one, hard evidence at that–his existence.

I read a thing or two about time traveling and the _multiverse_ theories, all of them remained _theoretical_ until today. Two centuries had passed, beginning from the genius who invented the bomb until the tyrant who heightened the defense forces of my land, and yet time traveling was proved untrue. Why so? It was simply because of the acclaimed fact that only weightless things could travel at the speed of light. And if an object could travel at such speed, that would open a possibility to travel through dimensions and cut through the fourth dimension – the _time._ Nevertheless, humans could never be _weightless_ , it was a common knowledge, because only electromagnetic waves could do that. Even atoms got a freaking _atomic weight_ – heck, this wasn't making sense for me anymore. I should have not missed that scientific documentary last week just to sell a bouquet of roses to some _romantico_. Back to _weightlessness_ – yeah, if this theory was held true, then by what means did Yuu get in this year?

After what seemed to be a lifetime of silence from me, initially not reacting to the blond boy's big revelation, I cleared my throat and looked away from those eyes. The longer I looked at those glistening orbs, the more I pity this boy. The more I would think that he was doing his best to stop the tears threatening to fall, and the more I would think less rational. I already said that I believed all of his words; my entire brain and all of my body systems compelled me to trust his words. I wouldn't take it back. His body language never lied to me, after all when people couldn't lie without words.

I gazed back at the ink-black sky and the glowing dots up there. Averting my eyes on the houses whose windows were still lit until this hour, I carefully traced constellations and named as many as I could. All I could hear was the rattling railroad and the combustion of the engine and the burst of ebony steam from the boiler. The train was heading quickly away from the cities and towns next to Ardio since everything seemed to grow smaller and smaller.

"You think I'm mad, don't you?" Yuu broke the silence first, unlocking the window latches with a click. Without a second thought, he pushed up the pane and the wind slapped our faces with no mercy. For a moment, I was deafened by the harsh wind. It also stung, it felt so sharp and icy. I couldn't even open my eyes against the wind, so I hastened to pull down the pane.

"What's that for?" I glowered at him when the window was successfully locked.

"What are you talking about?" Yuu replied just as quick, his cold gaze remained on me. I could tell he was hurt for I literally said nothing. Those eyes looked so apathetic in a flash, how sweet of him. He was the irony of all the train passengers: all were so worried and yet he couldn't care less. "Wondering why I asked you about my madness?"

"No, I'm talking about the window pane. Why open it in all of a sudden?"

Silence was what he replied.

"I believe what you say, _blondie._ I do," a sigh parted my lips, my shoulders sagging as I leaned on the backrest. "However, I want you to explain everything to me. _What happened to you and your parents in your time? How did you get here? Why...why did you say that you're the only one alive here?"_

The blond stooped his head, his blond fringe cast shadows over his face. For a moment, his expression was unreadable, but when he spoke, his voice illustrated the emotions I could not decipher from his youthful visage. Just then, I knew that a long night was waiting ahead.

Yuu looked my way, those green eyes were downcast. He was not saying anything yet, but when his lips were parted by a sigh, I knew that no great story would be told ahead.

"The present society is just brewing the greater chaos that will be laid out in future. Believe me," he began. "Eighteen years from now, people will live in a dystopian society. Cloture will be at the peak of its technological advantage, making the country superior than any other nations of the world. This country will own arsenals of superpower weapons that can destroy an island in one shot. Despite its superiority, all nations of the world will team up to end the reign of the evil tyrant. Cloture has lost its ties and peace agreements to any state, country and kingdom. Cloture is all alone. Nevertheless, it will remain powerful that no mind in this world can equate nor beat.

"In the future, all these serene places you are seeing will be pulverized. All will become nothing but empty bombed moors, heathers and broken machines litter the entire land. People loyal the government can be counted with your fingers. They remain under the protection of the tyrant, and through the technology exclusive only for the sworn loyalists, mostly Higher Orders, and scientists, they are unaffected by the war outside the protection. The floating battleships of Cloture are the greatest threats to the world, because the tyrant made a declaration that he will shoot any opposing nation with their nuclear weapon. He claimed that he won't be sorry if he has to erase an entire nation and race just to keep things as they are. He gained control over the world through threats. Through oppression.

"Most of the population will join the resistance and cross the border to take refuge in the neighboring country, the Norcu Federation. And these people, just like any other peoples of the world, are mortal and destructible. Only those who reside in the Ardio, and those who have sworn loyalty to the tyrant, are not. Let me tell you a secret I don't expect you to believe, Miku. This time, this year, this very age, is the experimental stage of the most crucial government project that originally started more or less fifty years ago. Hence, these people you see, everyone in this train... _everyone_ in the entire corrupted lands of Cloture, they are all frauds, artificial and non-living. You, the Orders, the rebels, the government officials – _all_ are not _humans._ Since I came into this time and place, I am the only _real_ living thing here. This nonsense began because of _that._

"About fifty years ago, a Cloturian senator created a research team that would use their technology in order to strengthen the national defenses without risking the lives of the soldiers during times of need. With the help of his friend, Dr. Hoshine, they created a system to use human brain and memory to devise an _AI_ which can make critical decisions. It was said that the project began with the simple dream of the senator to share dreams and visions to a friend, through the advent of technology. They carefully studied how the human brain stores and deletes memories, and they discovered through a scan that memories were electronic signals in the brain. They appeared to be small orbs of lights in the brain, and once the light faded, the memory was gone. What the team did was to capture the memory before it would flicker off. They created the prototype humanoid under the code HVP- _01_ which would have received the memories as its basis of decision-making. This was done through a wireless brain interface connected to a real human set asleep, the source of database. And thus, the humanoid was expected to live the place of the human, with the human memories and emotions and programmed ethics. While the human was set asleep, in order to keep the person's brain active, the humanoid would send signals - memories - to the human brain, giving the notion as if the human actually _did_ what the robot experienced. These were all the plans.

"The project was a failure, though. People opposed the project, standing on the ethical ground. Besides the ethical concern of the project, the senator was accused to be improvising a way to steal the fund allotted to the Ministry of Security and Defense. Before the research team could find a well-chosen volunteer to act as the database, the one who would be put asleep, some of the armed forces went out on a coup and took down the senator. His family was rumored finished off too, but well, some survived. His research team, on the other hand, was able to escape and hide all the progress of the project. Nobody had known what happened about the project, and the talk about such ambitious innovation died down. People thought so until twelve years later.

"Twelve years after that incident, the head scientist of the senator's research team died. His death signaled a game-changer. In those twelve years he hid away from the public, living as an ordinary professor in the University of Latria, and successfully managed to raise the prototype as though it was his child. Before his death, he revealed to the prototype its real identity being...that all it knew about itself were fabricated and programmed. The success of the HVP was supposed to be hidden when the late doctor contacted his colleague, Dr. Honne, to take care of the prototype's body and help the human to recover from twelve years of sleeping.

"Trouble kicked in when a number of students of the late Dr. Hoshine's continued a project loosely based off from HVP. They were able to download the files about the project, and thus, they tried to rework the so-thought abandoned and failed project. Meanwhile, these students did not know that they actually met the prototype, whose disappearance was disguised as death. The team leader met the prototype's human. The prototype was modeled after the human girl, and so the team leader recognized the girl. She had no recollection about who he was, because the memories the prototype sent back to her was hazy. Emotions and academic knowledge were selectively sent back to her. No face. No names. All were abstraction. Nonetheless, she was able to recover the memories properly on her second meeting with the team leader.

"On that day when she recovered her memory, the past seemed to repeat itself. The Minister of Security and Defense found out that the girl was alive, and that she was the daughter of the senator who started HVP. He spread the rumor that she restarted the project to avenge her father's death with the help of the university students working on the same project. She and the team leader escaped and hid from public from then on, and the Minister rose to overthrow the current ruler. Until today, he served as the head of the government, believe it or not.

"I can tell that you're confused – how's that possible, given that his ruling lasted for so long. The girl and the team leader were on the run for two years when the military finally captured one of them. They never saw each other from that day, and whatever the government had done on the other, the one wouldn't know. You see, the tyrant used the team leader to remake the HVP for his own benefit. It was kind of ironic, to be honest, when the tyrant was actually opposing the HVP when it was first launched. He did that just to put on a show. He used the team leader to remake HVP and make the tyrant's humanoid avatar to rule in his place, to prolong his life slowly withering away due to old age. Of course, at first the team leader has no cooperation, but when the girl was presented to him, unconscious and kept inside a clear capsule. Though the team leader didn't want to spill the secret, he was forced to do so in order to assure the girl's safety. He did all what he could do, but unbeknownst to him, she and the girl would also be put into a deep sleep. Until today, no one actually knows where on earth the tyrant hid their biological bodies. Their humanoid/android avatars are living as normal citizens here. And yes, all people you see right now, including yourself Miku, are nothing but a product of technology. Like what I told you, the people you see now are not real. I am the only one alive here, Miku. _O'-two_ never hesitated to run on those soldiers because they are not alive in the first place." Yuu paused this time, leaning his head next to the window.

"I don't expect you to believe it all at once, but that is the truth. You," he snapped his head back to me and grabbed my right arm. He pulled the sleeve up, twisting my wrist to show it to both of us. "You are a humanoid," he pressed his thumb harshly on my carpal. It hurt like hell since he was basically burying his nail, I tried swatting him away. However, we were both startled when my wrist flashed a light in a jiffy, as though I was wearing a smart hologram wrist band–that I wouldn't be able to purchase in all actuality because I'm broke as a rat–and _the_ red numbers floated amid the pale blue screen are **[** _ **01-B**_ ].

Whatever these numbers represented, I wasn't able to ask Yuu for the train slowed down, making the metal wheels screech against the rusty railroad. It was half past one in the morning now, murmured the people sitting close out seat. The speakers turned up, announcing the first stop: _Old Town Readele._

* * *

"You never mentioned anything about yourself, about the future," I said, clasping my hands together as we sat on the wooden bench outside the train station. "I mean, you did. But it was...kind of brief? A glimpse, perhaps?"

"Aren't you supposed to be asking about the citizens of Cloture being humanoids?" asked Yuu instead, throwing his head back. His golden fringe gracefully fell aside, revealing his round forehead.

I smiled tightly and he missed that. He was taking his time staring at the lamppost above us and the moths circling the warm sodium lamp. I could say that I wasn't really hard to convince. It was my first time hearing about the humanoids, and androids, and brain interfaces...but they felt awfully familiar that I couldn't bring myself to question the blond. After all, I'm a Cloturian and high-technology isn't really a new thing.

"Let's say that I believe them all," I huffed.

"Wow. I didn't expect that," murmured Yuu, sounding more tired and listless. "When I told Fukase that story he hardly believed me until I did the same thing on his wrist. By the way, the numbers show your model unit."

"I see. Was about to ask that." I propped up an elbow and leaned on it, "hey, blondie. Tell me about how you survived _your_ cruel world, given that you're... _parent_ - _less_. And tell me how you got back here."

Yuu sighed, his eyes fluttered close. "I didn't make it on my own. A guy who claimed to be my parents' friend raised me. I called him uncle. Uncle Dell, Dell Honne. It was hard when your guardian was a scientist, you know. 'Twas hard but fun. It was Uncle Dell who told me that the solution couldn't be found in the future anymore. All countries were choked by the neck with Cloture's iron hands. That was when we decided to make a time machine. Too complicated to explain, but it could bring you back in a certain time for only a year. After a year, your body would vanish in both times: the present time where you got yourself, and the time you were originally from. Other words, you'd cease to exist.

"Uncle Dell told me that my parents were the key to end the war. He told me that Father was working as the head of some research project in SELF, and if I'd be able to talk to him...he could crack into the system and wake the aging physical body of the tyrant. Uncle Dell instructed me to deactivate all humanoids to make everyone vulnerable, and then ask my Father to control the security of the country. Lots of inside job, really. It took me three months to get into SELF, and while I was in it, a man noticed the danger in my thoughts. He advised me to join the resistance. That's where I met _o'-two._ "

"Have you met your father though?" I asked.

Yuu winced and smiled. "Do you remember our first meeting?" he asked instead.

"It's just...yesterday?"

"Yeah," he chortled. "You were squeezed in between three high ranking scientists from SELF. Remember those tall people?"

I wrinkled my forehead as I tried recalling that event.

 _No, not exactly._

"I thought the blond was my dad," he added, "or the taller man, with lilac hair. I don't know. In my time, all that there is to be known about my parents are gone. Their names are something people can't say. Even Uncle Dell can't tell me. He keeps on saying that I will know whether or not the people I see are my parents."

"Okay? What a nice way of using institution, eh?" I nodded. "Okay, now that's clear to me. Why am I needed here again?"

" _O'-two_ said you're a crucial part of the rebellion. He said you knew the location of my parents."

That answer was something I did not anticipate. For someone who had no memories, I don't how can I be of any help.

* * *

The birds were twittering and the air was a bit warm. It was morning already when I opened my eyes, the clear sky seemed like a vast sea of blueness above us. _Us?_ I looked sideways to see a pool of golden locks leaning on my shoulder, his face had a serene expression as he dozed off. His face could be mistaken as a girl's, so feminine. And 'twas innocent, too. Studying his face for a minute-long of silence, I was reminded that Yuu was just a child, venturing in a time and place where he did not belong to find his parents taken away from me.

 _Ah,_ I finally realized it. Yuu, like _all_ of the rebels, was fighting. He was fighting because something was taken away from him by force–and he wanted it back. He wanted back something that was rightfully his: _his family._

The fluttering of wings above us startled the shit out of me. I jerked, pushing off Yuu from me on the process. My heartbeat raised at that – though I know that I am not a real being, I would like to acknowledge that I am one, just for the very reason that I have a living persona somewhere, even though I don't have any memories of who I used to be. Come to think of it, I didn't fuss about being an AI when Yuu told the truth. I guess, some part of me had it coming. That my whole life was just a lie. Plot twist: my existence has always been a lie. Nevertheless, I don't have anything against it.

Yuu stirred and looked up, he sleepily blinked at me and yawned. Stretching his limbs, the blond boy greeted me a 'good morning'. I just nodded in reply, and it was a stiff nod at that. I thought he would be mad or something, since most people would be pissed off if they were bothered from sleep. Xin Hua was like that. She would yell at my face and ask me to leave her be, and of course I would otherwise because we were someone's employees and we had _no right_ to slack off and oversleep.

Yuu asked me what we would get for breakfast, it was my turn to blink at him. "Breakfast?" I repeated, perhaps I directed it to myself. He nodded while rubbing the sleep off his eyes. "Well, I don't know if the money I had can buy us a good meal. Why don't we look around–oh, is it okay if we look around, anyway? How will _o'-two_ find us?"

That's quite a number of questions I had there, but Yuu answered anyway.

"I don't know. His instruction is to meet him _in_ Readele, but didn't specify _where_ here. Besides, that guy will find us in any way. Why don't we just go and eat something? I'm famished," he stood and stretched out a little more. The morning sun made his golden hair more...ugh, _golden._ What else?

"Yeah, fine. Come on," I beckoned him to come, and then we wandered to find a good place to eat.

As Yuu and I walked on the cobbled streets, counting Victorian lampposts, I couldn't help but wonder. We really slept outdoors, how weird. Albeit I'm basically homeless (and the benevolent Diva just took me in), I never really stayed and slept on the streets. We dozed off sitting on a bench in the middle of the night, and yet we woke up in one piece. This place seemed safe...and surprisingly not so strict about curfews.

 _Readele,_ huh? It was a town of peace, silence, boredom and antiquity–albeit these descriptions were unrelated, they all mixed perfectly. The establishments were rather old in structural design. Each building had the same look on the pictures from Diva's old magazines published thirty years ago. Signages were printed on canvases, not flashed on LED boards. This place seemed like a no-fly zone, because the sky was clear from any cars. Well, what to expect? The train wasn't operated through magnetic levitation, and it was run by steam engines. It was right to say that this town was left behind in terms of modernity and all. Why would the government leave this place untouched, though?

I kept looking around as Yuu decided which store to go. Strangely, after knowing that I was no human, I decided not to do what a regular person would do–eat, for example. How did the scientists made an android body capable of eating human food? Was there some sort of digestive juices stored in our bellies to convert stored energies of raw food into something chemical to fuel these mechanical bodies? How exactly do I function?

I sighed. The answers wouldn't drop from the heavens.

Yuu skipped and hopped ahead, leaving me a few steps behind. He looked so excited, maybe because he was about to meet his parents after today? But then again, if he would see them, that would mean his existence in the future and here would vanish once his time reached its limit. That snapped a nerve. My legs worked on their own, making me run after the blond.

"Yuu!" I called, he turned. "How much time do you have left?"

The blond grinned at me, his leaf green eyes brightening up a little. "It depends on what really is _time._ "

"That's nonsense. Answer me, come on. Do we have to rush now to find your mum and dad?"

"Miku, I'm always in rush." Yuu continued to hop and skip, heading straight to a pastry shop. Maybe he really meant to sound like an _Alice in Wonderland_ character with those answers he gave me. It didn't make him any cooler, anyway.

However, what did he mean by he was always in rush?

"Yuu," I walked next to him, he, staring at the cake displayed from the shop's window. "Hey, blondie. Have you chosen what to get for breakfast?"

"Is it okay if I have a cake?" asked he, eyes still glued on the cakes displayed before us.

I crinkled my nose. "Do you have cakes eighteen years from now?"

"No. If you're a rebel staying out of the border, you have no time to eat something as luxurious as this."

"Not exactly luxurious," I objected.

"Uncle Dell said mum and dad baked one when they were eighteen. Mum was left alone in dad's house during the winter break. Dad's twin sister was mum's best friend."

This kid kept on giving ambiguous and unrelated answers. Was he aware just how random he was? I sighed and tapped him on his shoulder. "Tell me, boy. What is time for you?"

"An old woman told me once, _'time is a resource we can never get back',_ " he answered, standing upright.

"Here," I pulled his hand and put my purse on it. "Go buy that cake because we have no time to waste. Your mum and dad's waiting for their boy." And like a little child, Yuu embraced me shortly before running inside the store.

"Hey!" Yuu stopped in front the entrance of the store, his back facing me. People began to crowd the street, some were running out for a morning jog. Doves perched on the benches while an old fat woman was throwing breadcrumbs on the cobbled ground. Slowly, Yuu turned to me, a small smile lit up his face. "Four days, Miku. Four days."

 _Four days, eh?_

Yeah. Was he really aware how random was he?

I rolled my eyes and shrugged, failing to understand what Yuu meant by that. The door dinged as Yuu went inside, so I walked over to a bench in the middle of the street to shield myself from the morning sun. I sat behind the old woman feeding the birds, shoulders sagged. People ran past by me, their earphones plugged in. It was kind of funny how these people had no idea that all of us here were _abiotic_.

I sat under the red mulberry tree, its leaves softly fluttering in the wind. The sunlight filtered through leaves left tiny orbs of lights on my palms. It was quiet. If there was one thing interesting about this old town, probably it was the serenity the cities lacked. The Ardio was probably still on war against the rebels, so I could only guess the total cost of damages rebels had brought upon Cloture. While imagining how many skyscrapers the rebels had probably bombed, I worried about Diva and Xin. The authorities might send Diva back to her parents, since she was from an Order higher than Xin; so what about Xin? Where would she go to take refuge?

In all of a sudden, I saw a flash of pink and lilac, and the bench slightly shook. I felt an arm drop on my shoulders and pulled me towards my left. The smell of peonies wafted in the air, and I felt long pink tresses tickled the side of my face.

"My, my! We've been wandering here since last night. How are you doin', miss?"

I looked up to see a gorgeous pink-haired girl smiling down at me. Her hair was still caught up in a messy ponytail, and her eyes were still darker than the blue sky. How could I ever forget such beauty when I just saw her yesterday? The only difference was that she didn't have her lab gown with her today.

"Luka, you always scare people. Can you not start with introducing yourself before talking casually?" said the lilac-haired guy. With his hair equally long, his beauty reeked of masculinity.

"Why, you're so modest, hun. Why don't we just drop formalities and act like normal people. We know each other ever since...if _you_ can remember?" The girl peered down at me, still beaming with a flashy grin.

"Honey, I really don't know if I like this change in your personality when they changed us into these forms." The guy sighed and flipped his hair behind him. "Miku, where's the boy?"

OKAY. What. The. Butt.

"Well, uhm, how do you know my name?" I asked, slowly removing myself from the pink-haired knockout. "I think I saw yesterday in the tram, but I don't remember saying my name to you."

"Hm? Originally, everyone knows who you are. It was only ten years ago when we received a memo from the Head of the State to remove all people's memory of who you are," the girl chuckled gracefully, albeit nothing was really funny. "Gosh, _he_ surely didn't warn us about explaining things. I'm really bad at explanations."

"I'm sorry about that," the guy apologized, his expression looked sincere. "My name is Gakupo Kamui, and she's Luka Megurine. She's my...girlfriend. I will assume that the boy already explained things to you, and what sort of war we were caught in. SELF was struck down last night, and the high-ranking researchers fled from the city. Most of us were secret members of the resistance–which wasn't so clandestine as of this moment."

"Oh! He texted me. He said he's almost here," Luka interjected as she stared at the holographic screen flashed from her wrist. "Are you excited to see him again? It's been five decades of separation, you know. Do you miss him?"

I cocked a brow, clearly asking what on earth she was referring to. Gakupo sighed and winced; he reached out to pat my head and told me to ignore Luka. I might as well ignore both of them because they weren't making sense to me. I stood from my seat when I heard the store's door dinging, and I saw a glimpse of blond coming out of the store. The first thing that popped in my head was to call Yuu and ran away from these _researchers_ , but the moment my legs worked, scurrying to the blond's direction, I heard a loud screeching of brakes chorusing with my name being yelled by Luka, Gakupo and Yuu.

I shut my eyes close and prepared myself for an impact.

The doves being fed by the old woman were startled, and while I froze at where I stood, the birds fluttered their wings and flew away. I could hear the soft trembling of the motor, the rubber wheel of the bike was touching my right leg. The warmth radiating from the wheel was searing through my jeans. I opened an eye and confirmed that I was unharmed. Then I looked for Yuu firstly. The blond was standing on my left, the pallor of his face told me that he was also frightened. Yuu sighed, and he flashed me a gentle smile afterwards. His eyes moved towards the rider who almost ran on me, and I also looked at the same direction.

" _O'-two!_ " cried Yuu, his smile stretched his puffy cheeks.

I felt my blood boil as I watched him remove his dark sunglasses. There was a cloud of arrogance forming above his head, and surely it would rain over him soon. I gritted my teeth at him and called, "drag racer! You almost hit me!"

"Len!" said Gakupo and Luka in unison. Yuu and I gaped at the couple sitting on the bench, a look of disbelief spread on our faces. Who's Len?

"Come on," said the drag racer, removing himself from the bike. Much to my surprise, he tugged on his hair and pulled it off from his head. Bright lemony locks fell loose, some were tied in a bundle at the nape of his neck. "Bring the blond boy and this hypocrite. I found _their_ location. Hurry up, we have no time left. I hacked the central program last night and broke into General Utatane's capsule. Everyone would shut down within two days."

All the while he was telling this, Gakupo and Luka took me and Yuu by the arms and pulled us to the _blond_ drag racer. I knew his face. How come I did not recognize him while he took us to tram twenty-seven? And he went out of our tram in front SELF! How did he magically appear in Ardio?

O'-two tucked his sunglasses on the neck of his shirt, his cold cobalt blue eyes looked down on me. He was annoyingly gorgeous—or gorgeously annoying. He sneered. "Good. You took care of our precious Yuu, the only biotic being in whole Cloture."

"Are you really o'-two? He got honey-colored irises," I said, kicking his bike that almost hit me.

"Are you a monkey? Contact lenses are still in-use, phony. Those are special lenses that enable me to see in the dark," he shrugged, brushing his golden fringe away from his eyes. This time, he looked at his colleagues—technically, Yuu was his colleague even if he was working in Sector Z, the communication department. "Our ride will be here within five minutes."

"I'm not mistaken. When I saw you in the tram, I just know you're the o'-two who approached me during my internship in SELF. Have you found my parents, sir?" Yuu took a bite from his cake and anticipated the _drag racer's_ answer.

"I found their location," he combed through his blond locks again. Len, as what they called him, looked pensive for a moment, and hesitation stopped him from speaking for a second. "W-well, the computer pointed their location. It was on the old military camp."

"Hey, are you serious about that?" Gakupo butted in, his face told me that wherever that military camp was, it wasn't a good place to linger in. The blond researcher just nodded.

"Then we're going to do some digging," Luka linked an arm on Gakupo's. "The place was converted to a public cemetery forty years ago, right?"

Does that mean Yuu's parents were dead? His Uncle Dell told him that his parents were still alive at this year.

"If the General found out the resistance's main objective—the recovery of the most important capsules in the country—he wouldn't hesitate sending orders to the Lower Grounds to execute them. A syringe of lethal poison would all it take to kill them." Len placed a hand on Yuu's head. "If we won't find the underground laboratory in time, we will lose them."

Yuu and Len continued to talk. I turned to Gakupo and Luka to ask them what on earth was the Lower Grounds. "Lower Grounds was a classified organization formed by the government to guard and maintain Yuu's parents' body," claimed Luka.

"Are they that important? What did they do in the past?" I followed up a question.

"Well, yes. They are _really_ important—the most important threats to the General," Luka chortled. "Time ticks away, that's why people preserve the biological bodies in order to stop their time. If Yuu's parents come back, they will end the General's _time._ " She beamed me another smile. "We are all excited to see _**01-B**_ and _**02**_ wake up together."

* * *

 **a/n.** _unedited. thank you so much,_ _ **white angel**_ _! yeah, his parents are pretty obvious now lol but well…hehe. tysm for reading and reviewing!_


	4. Chapter 4

A few moments ago, I was listening to the pink-haired bombshell— _er_ —researcher as she talked about the persona of these humanoid units _01-B_ and _02_ , that these two were people of high importance. This unsurprising surprise made me flinch in all of a sudden, realizing that the numbers that appeared on my wrist were one of what Luka mentioned. I mean, it would make sense after the abduction and bombing Yuu pulled through, right?

However, watching Yuu and Len's form walking ahead of me, observing how they animatedly talked to each other like colleagues, I wondered if the blond boy actually knew that...well, I was his parent's humanoid? I remembered that he never knew how his parents looked. Heck, he didn't even know their names. As I ponder about this now, I could not help but ask myself a few questions. What would happen to me once my persona woke up? Was there any guarantee that my persona is biologically female? What did she look like, if 'twas true that she has been asleep for five decades now? Was I designed after her? Were all humanoids created identical to their bodies?

Most importantly, who is _02?_

Wait.

O'-two?

I jumped in surprise. Damn, _squirrel._

"Hey, Miss Luka," I ran and pulled the researcher to my side while flashing an apologetic smile to her boyfriend. Clearly, the purple-haired dude did not like his girlfriend being dragged away from him. Quite possessive, aren't we? _Like I'd say that._ He needed to cure his separation anxiety ASAP. He was no kindergarten.

I shifted my attention back to the bewildered Luka, my smile faded away. She was pretty and all, I admit. I felt so ugly standing next to her. Well, whatever. Looks hardly mattered to me, though. "Come again. I quite didn't catch it right. When you talked about _01-B_ and _02, do_ you mean they were Yuu's parents? Things were kind of confusing, I'm sorry." I smiled.

I already got a bad feeling about this since obviously there could only be _a_ person who literally flaunted who he really was by using his humanoid's unit as an alias. However, I needed a confirmation. Knowing who is 02 would not crush me or anything, though. Basically, ever since I woke up with no memories or even after Yuu told me about Cloture being populated by mechanical people, I was a bit...apathetic. I cared and worried; I was shocked; I was nostalgic over a few matters. I felt things. Hence, I could say that I was not completely indifferent about all these things. But then again, I did not exactly felt a strong emotion about these things. I could care less, that would be a nice way to put it. All the times I spent with Diva and Xin as a florist, nothing but a feeling of discontentment had filled me: discontentment, dissatisfaction, confusion and nostalgia. I couldn't even remember being happy, like the happy, happy? You know.

The rest of the guys walked ahead, leaving us behind. Currently we were looking for Len's _astronave_. I didn't have a great deal of knowledge about flying cars or what, but I knew for sure that it was an expensive car. Flying cars were always expensive, anyway. I think I had seen that _astronave_ in some ad from the telly. Wherever the blond genius parked his car, if ever flying cars were being parked, we needed to find it soon.

My eyes glanced back at the blonds walking far ahead. Yuu had a holographic screen flashing before him, its screen showing a map. I heaved a sigh, dismissing all thoughts I had in my head. Just in time, Luka put her hand on my head and ruffled my already messy hair.

"You've been staring at Yuu and Len now," whispered Luka low, her mouth next to my ear. "Don't play naive. I know you'd grasped what is this all about. You and Len, your biological bodies are Yuu's parents. Among the five of us, only Yuu had no single clue about that. You should have known by now that in the time where he was from, mentioning his parents' names are strictly prohibited. All pictures of them were burned too."

"Say, Luka," I glanced sideways but soon I looked downward, suddenly taking interest in the way the cobbled ground glistened against the morning sun. "If I am Yuu's parent, why didn't I recognize Len from the tram? Shouldn't I be excited to see him or some sort? Why no sparks at all. I mean, that's how it's supposed to work, no? Yuu told tall tales about his parents' romance, you know. There should be at least…a spark? All this blond hot stuff show me is plain, raw hostility."

Luka burst into a laughter, loud and graceless. This didn't make her less attractive though. She had a natural aura of comeliness going around her, and I couldn't argue about that. She was a beautiful girl whatever she was doing, and she was not trying hard to look cool. I bet all girls wanted to be like her. Who wouldn't kill to have such nice long hair and voluptuous body?

I narrowed my eyes at her, a bit puzzled with her reaction. Yeah, sure, it was a funny thing to ask. But her reaction was a tad exaggerated, I think.

"You're such a curious one," she sighed, twiddling a tress of her wavy, pink hair. "You know why the prototype failed? Of course you don't know. Silly me for asking."

We continued to walk, turning down to an alley.

"Dr. Hoshine programmed her to self-destruct once her system came in contact with water. _01_ would have lasted longer if she was not emotional. In human terms, what she did was a suicide. To avoid the same thing this time, SELF recreated 01 and stripped off her memories and emotions." Luka slung an arm on my shoulders and pulled me with her quicker strides. "I made sure you can still feel though. Sympathy and a sprinkle of empathy. I don't want to make you an outright robot. Emotions are quite a headache when they interfere so much with the rational thought, so I made sure you were more of a thinker than an empath."

I flinched. "What? You made me?" I focused on her previous statement. She said it, didn't she?

She winced her head and beamed. Well, now that's confusing.

"Nope, nope. The higher ranks of SELF made you. So technically it was not just me, but the entire team. We're under the General's command so he did all precautions to keep you subservient...and Len, too."

"Is his memories still with him?"

"He wouldn't lose them ever."

I sighed, looking at the blonds again, fixating my gaze more on Len. Staring at his strong and broad back, I frowned. Did this guy have an awesome wardrobe? I mean, his leather jacket looked so _badass_. "Why is he acting like he doesn't have any memories?" I kept my eyes on him. He was laughing with Yuu now, his hand reached out to ruffle his hair like what a father would do. "Why is nobody telling Yuu that his parents are always with him all this time?"

"Len wants to act rational. He is aware that what he is doing right now is mere acquisition of experiences," she let go of my shoulders and I slowly fell behind her. "He will introduce himself to his son once he is a human like Yuu. The boy is alive. He came back to this time to find his parents in flesh. He had enough of abiotic beings in the future, yep?"

It was disagreeable but I didn't say a thing. Human or humanoid, a fraction of the truth was right under Yuu's nose and yet nobody would do the honour to tell him that. Didn't humanoids acquire their current personality from the memories they once have as humans? Shouldn't that make humanoids a replica of their human bodies? But why was Len putting up that façade? If he hadn't lost his memories at all, he should have felt happy seeing a boy who claimed to be his son from the future.

"So?" I caught up to Luka's side. She was staring far ahead of us, her eyes lost somewhere. "What's the point? His parents are here after all," said I.

"You and Len, _everyone_ ; we are programmed beings, Miku. We don't possess genuine emotions. Not you, especially." Luka took a wisp of her hair and tucked it behind an ear. Slowly she hastened her strides, meaning to tell me that we have to stop this talk here and find the astronave. After all, Len said it was five minutes away. However, how long was five minutes exactly? We'd been walking around the downtown for some time now, attracting attention from people around us. Couldn't blame them at all, these people with me were ridiculously beautiful.

Well, what I wanted to say is that: Luka's explanation wasn't making sense. Or perhaps I was too slow to grasp what she was meaning to say. Though Luka dismissed the talk earlier, I still have various questions I wanted to be answered. They remained unspoken, nonetheless. There was a loud boyish scream from ahead of us, Yuu - I'm guessing, and the much awaited astronave finally showed up - or rather, was found. And yes, it was parked on the ground like normal wheeled cars, other than this one had no wheels.

* * *

I was never fond of heights, but I didn't fear it either way. Seeing the world below us kind of set me off, made me feel ill in the pit of my stomach. It was sensible though, for this was my first time to ride an astronave. Even Diva, who was a little affluent (but perhaps not as rich as these SELF researchers with me) never brought a car (nor a flying car) at the shop, even once. If I was a little impressed with the floating trams due to magnetic levitation, you could guess how much mind-blown I was when we took off. Aerodynamics at its finest, people.

Luka, Gakupo and Len were engaged in a deep talk as the blond hot stuff drove the flying car. Blueprints of this so-called Lower Grounds were flashed on the left windshield, Gakupo was drawing a line on the corridors with his interactive pen. They were trying to sort the plan they came up with so we could break in the underground facility, take the bodies and flee before the _two days_ deadline Len set ends.

"Everyone's doing so much for me," the blond kid mumbled next to me, his eyes almost fluttering close. I was reminded that he was just a kid, a _human_ kid, and all these happenings were quite tiring him out. "I know it's a bit selfish, but I'm glad. If we have two days to steal my parents back, I have four days in total to spend with them. That's more than I can ask for."

He sighed. I cocked a brow, wondering why this boy was thinking out loud. Not to mention that his words were hinting something. "Why four days only? Aren't you happy that you can live with them from now on?"

The boy smiled, shaking his head and messing up his hair purposely. "Didn't I tell you? My time's up. Atoms need to follow the laws of nature."

"I don't understand, Yuu."

He chuckled and turned his body to face me. The boy took my right hand and held it against his chest. He was a warm boy, literally. I could feel his heart beating, and it was actually the first time I got excited over heartbeats… his heart was a real human heart, after all.

"Then let us talk about basic biology, Miku. What do the antibodies do when a foreign body enters the system?"

I frowned. No good. "The heck you're talking about, Blondie. The universe doesn't work like leukocytes and stuff in a bloodstream." Yes, especially when nobody but Yuu had them for real.

"Oh," his hold on my hand tightened. His smile widened, too. "But it does when it comes to time travelling. One cannot stay for too long in a time and place he doesn't belong to. Like a white blood cell trying to eat up an unrecognised protein, the universe will conspire to remove an unrecognised entity. Believe me. I can feel them working on me this past weeks. Lately, the forces had got strong."

I leaned towards him to pat his head, to feel his hair underneath my palm. This boy would go back to his time, right? I hope the future's fixed when he comes home.

"You'll surely have a good future once you come back." I said, unsure how to deal with a melancholic boy.

"You don't understand, do you? I will cease to exist after this, Miku. I have no future, it's already my past. All I have is _now_ and I am to spend it wisely. With mom and dad."

That's melancholic. If I am swayed with words easily, I'd be sniffing back my snot and wiping my tears already. Sadly, I wasn't that kind of person. However, what he said stung a little. It was making sense now, but still confusing at some point.

I reached out to him, his smooth— _unbelievably_ cute—face trapped between my palms. His face had the same shape with the blond hot stuff's face, but his eyes, damn those greenish blue pools. How the hell his parents did produce such a beautiful product?

"Yuu," I cleared my throat, brushing away the funny thoughts I had about genes and human reproduction. "You're a brave boy. I know your parents will love you and treasure you, so we'll make sure that you will live a fine, peaceful life in the future. Okay?"

"That's kind of you, Miku. Thanks," he said, his hands covering mine. This time he was yawning loud enough that it made the three researchers look at him.

"Hey, I'm serious. I'll make a better future for you so kids wouldn't go back in time to look for their parents," I grinned at him, but he only yawned and leaned forward to hug me. Was it weird being hugged by an adolescent?

Yes. Our ages were quite close, making it awkward.

I noticed Luka and Gakupo smile when I waved my hand to dismiss them. Meanwhile, Len kept staring. His face was expressionless as ever, cold as a stone, unchanging like change itself. However, I knew he was keeping an emotion behind that empty look he was giving Yuu. I looked down at the boy who was almost asleep. His eyes were half-lidded, and his eyes were fluttering close now.

"I hope mom is a great mother."

I smiled. In the future where Yuu was from, his parents were robbed off the opportunity to play their roles. I bet the _human_ me would love to be Yuu's mother, too. My hands patted his back, and I began to hum a melody that suddenly entered my head. This song was never played on radio or telly before, but this was something playing in my head for a while now.

"Yuu," I called, humming the melody in between our silences. I looked up to see Len standing now, while Gakupo was piloting the astronave. It seemed like the blond hot stuff heard me humming so I mouthed him to go away. I was kind of enjoying my motherly side here. Len just rolled his eyes and remained standing, watching us like his favourite specimen under the microscope.

"…yeah," Yuu's voice was faint. Len was walking towards us when I decided to tell Yuu what his biological mother would want him to know all these years that he lived alone.

"I love you," I smiled and kissed the top of his head. Maybe this so much of an improvement, I was shocked, too. I mean, I just wanted to say those words to console him. But the moment they slipped off my tongue, I felt like a different person was saying those words. It was as if…the real _me_ was telling this blond kid her affection towards him. I automatically hummed again. Yuu didn't respond, but I felt him tighten his embrace.

When I looked up, I began singing. " _Even if we fall apart, feeling your memories escape my heart…and it's hard to see the light because the world without you is dark…"_

"Miku," Len was staring hard at me, his brows knitted as if to show he was displeased…wait, displeased with what? "Stop singing. Your voice sounds like a dying mouse."

"Bastar—" I bit my lips, unsure if I really wanted to argue with him or let Yuu sleep in peace. Why must he be so rude? If anything, I kind of liked how my voice sounded with that unknown song, but should he really interrupt to say something so rude? He was just nothing but a pretty face. I wish Yuu's dad wouldn't have such a mean nature like 02. That bastard...

* * *

 _a/n. i'll put my lenku works on a hiatus. this draft has been (sleeping) for a year in my a files so i decided to post with this little notice._


End file.
